vDenoise Command Line tool Helper (Maxscript UI)

[^Lele^]

Ah! That's found in the computer configuration, where the system variables are set.
We should probably make it obvious in the documentation.

One way to get to the right place: press the start/windows key, and type "Environment". Click on "Edit the System Environment Variables", and click on the "Environment Variables" button at the bottom right of the new window.
You'll find the V-Ray set variables (likely) at the end of the list in the bottom window.

[narihito_miura]

@Lele
Thanks a lot it worked like magic.

I would love to know, how did you find the name of this string

"VRAY_FOR_3DSMAX2021_MAIN"

I searched for a few days on the internet in 3dsmax documentation and Vray documentation. It was not available on any place.
Thanks in advance for your reply.

[^Lele^]

Narihito, hello!
You're very right, 3ds Max changed where plugins should go in version 2022 (i think.).
Attached some code that works (two functions: one to find the max major version as a string (it comes with vrutils, so it can be launched as it is.), and the other to go grab the full bin folder path.

fn findVRayBinFolder6 = -- V-Ray 6.x bin folder search
(
MaxVer=getMaxReleaseAsString()
envVar = (systemTools.getEnvVariable ("VRAY_FOR_3DSMAX"+maxVer+"_MAIN"))

theBinFolder = pathConfig.normalizePath envVar + @"\"
try
(
MaxVer=getMaxReleaseAsString()
theBinFolder = pathConfig.normalizePath envVar + @"\"
)
catch
(
theBinFolder=undefined
)
theBinFolder
)

I remain at disposal for any further clarification.

[narihito_miura]

Hello ^Lele^. thanks for your help.
I was bit curious to learn something from you.
I have seen the code of the ached File vDenoise_3.40.02.ms

in the function getDenoiserPath it looks like this:

fn getDenoiserPath =
(
theMaxVersion=("20"+(((maxVersion())[1]/1000)-2)as string)
oslPath=systemTools.getEnvVariable ("VRAY_OSL_PATH_3DSMAX"+theMaxVersion+"_x64")
if oslPath != undefined do
(
denoiserPath=(substring oslPath 1 (oslPath.count-6))+@"tools\vdenoise.exe"
)
if not (doesFileExist denoiserPath) do denoiserPath=""
)

It works fine in Vray 5.

but when I try to use VRAY 6

systemTools.getEnvVariable ("VRAY_OSL_PATH_3DSMAX"+theMaxVersion+"_x64")

This code is returns "Undefined"
I don't know how did you find the code to discover the Vray Path from 3DsMax Script.

If you could please tell me a way or code line to find the Environment Path for the Vray 6 folder would be Very Helpful.

in Vray 6 for 3DsMax 2021 the Path is
C:\Program Files\Chaos Group\V-Ray\3ds Max 2021\bin
in Vray 6 for 3DsMax 2024 the Path is
C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\VRay3ds Max2024\bin

if you could share the code to find this path variables directly from 3dsmax Script, It would be a life saver.

Thanks a lot in advanced.

[bernhard]

First you comp with the un-denoised render elements, and after you Denoise?
or
First you Denoise all your render-elements, and just comp with them?

confused here...
anywhere a documented workflow for that?

just can't get this baby done... uuahhhh

[Morne]

nevermind!
(sorted)

[matanov]

1. Can you please share a scene where the old version of the denoiser does a better job than the Next one?

2. What devices do you see when you open the "Select rendering devices for V-Ray GPU" tool?

[eyepiz]

There is something fishy around the multi gpu denoising and we are checking it now.

About the denoising the elements and comping them back together - can you describe your workflow and why exactly are you missing this method?

Hi Peter,

"From the VRay 3.6 Command Line -Help Options" -elements=1

-elements=0/1 - when 0, the colors in the final image are denoised in one
pass; when 1, the render elements are denoised separately and then
composited together.
(default is 0 - single pass RGB denoising only)

This is what I mean by denoising by elements and comping them back together. I have been using the V-Ray denoiser since the command line was the only option to denoise images back in the alfa build days.
It seems that the VRay Next denoiser does not use per element denoising, the result are not as good as the V-Ray 3.6 version, fine details get blurred out, it looks like VRay Next is set to (default is 0 - single pass RGB denoising only)

My second issue is Multi GPU support not working.

I have (3) Nvidia Titan Xp's in my system and only (1) seems to be used when denosing.

"From the VRay 3.6 Command Line -Help Options" --useGpu=2

-useGpu=0/1/2 - when 0 will use CPU for denoising.
when 1 attempts to use the best OpenCL; fall back to CPU if unsuccessful.
(experimental) when 2 attempts to use all suitable OpenCL devices, fall back to CPU if unsuccessful
(default is 0)

Thanks,

-E

[matanov]

"V-Ray Next users"

Per-Element Denoising (not the "select denoise elements" in the new version UI) the old version deniosed the frames per elements and comp them back in one go. The outcome was a nice clean file with only the denoised element.

V-Ray Next vDenoiser does not seem to Denoise on multiple GPU's, in V-Ray 3 I could use all my GPU's installed to denoise, this was very handy for denoising an animation were hundreds of frames were being denoised.

There is something fishy around the multi gpu denoising and we are checking it now.

About the denoising the elements and comping them back together - can you describe your workflow and why exactly are you missing this method?

[^Lele^]

matanov will know best, i think!
The old script has been superseded by the UI, so changes are out of my hands.

[eyepiz]

IMPORTANT NOTICE:
V-Ray Next users ought to run vdenoise.exe (from your v-ray installation folder, "bin" subfolder) from windows explorer, so to get a nice UI, like so:


-- Old post, non-Next V-Ray users only --

It's a macroscript I wrote to help with sequences' post-process denoising.
It works with VRImage files and Multi-layer EXR files, best written directly from the raw file output of V-Ray (but provided the elements are there, any exr will in fact do.), with auto-numbering detection.

Installation:
*) RUN the file called "vDenoise_3.40.02.ms"
*)Select, from the top menus, "Customize->Customize User Interface..."
*)From the "Category" pulldown choose "VRay", scroll to the very bottom, and find "vDenoise Command Line Tool Helper UI", like shown in the image below.
*)With it selected, you can assign it to a shortcut (I used ctrl+alt+shift+v, which is free by default in max), a menu, a toolbar or a quad menu, as you see fit, through standard max operations.




Once the new tool is run, the UI appears:



Operation:
1)Click "Pick a File in your sequence..."
2)Pick a .VRImg or.Exr file from anywhere in a sequence (ie. no need to pick the first.).

3a)Click "Denoise it!"
4a)Find the denoised results into the input files folder.

3b)Ctrl+Click "Denoise it!" : a dialog will appear informing you the command line has been copied to clipboard (press ctrl+shift to skip the message box entirely)
4b)Open a command window, paste your command line, change it as you wish, and run it.

This will auto-detect sequences and change the frame blending to 1 (once only. It can be overridden manually.).
UI controls will activate only if they make sense to do so, depending on user choices. When disabled, their displayed values are not taken into account.

Known Limitations:
Multiple dot sequences in image names will fail (denoiseMe......exr), and not failing would require some annoying string parsing: please make sure a Dot's there for a reason (ie. add something in between them!). ^^

Notes:
The script will always build the shortest possible command line, so if some options are enabled, but do not appear explicitly in the command line printed out in the listener, it is because those options in their current state, are provided as defaults by the executable (f.e.: Manual mode, radius 10, or strength 1.0).
Controlling the denoising operations from the command window which opens up will confirm it.
Saving a preset with the name "default" (non case-sensitive) will load it automatically on startup.
Should it find such a preset, and load it, it'll automatically roll-up the presets rollout, so it'll be out of your way, and shorten the dialog.
If the file picking button tooltip always contains the full picked path, handy in case the button is cutting it off.

The script is fully tool-tipped: be kind to the poor soul which had to write them and spend a second reading them!
vDenoise_3.40.02.ms.zip : This is somewhat QAd (by you kind people) and it works within its limits. If unsure, download and use this one.

Edits and ChangeLog:
04-06-2016: Generally Strengthened the file pathing and number detection routine, It now supports network paths and arbitrarily dotted files, provided the numbers in between the dots are ONLY numbers.
f.e.: denoiseMe.RGB_Color.A.Few.More.Dotted.Bits.In.TheI mage.Name.0000.exr will work, while
denoiseMe.RGB_Color.A.Few.More.Dotted.Bits.In.TheI mage.Name.00a00.exr will be considered a single image.
07-06-2016: Now uses the variable "VRAY_OSL_PATH_3DSMAX20XX_x64" to build the denoiser path, safer than the max installation one (Thanks Blago).
19-06-2016: Updated for 3.40.02 (sp4 hotfix), to include the -frames option to pick a subset of frames to denoise in a sequence, rationalised the interface and added ctrl+click to copy the command line to the Windows clipboard.
25-06-2016: Fixed a logic issue for the UI which prevented per-element denoising if a non-manual preset mode was selected.
26-06-2016: Added a dropdown to choose process priority, however to be able to do that i had to change the way i invoke the denoiser, and this also leads to two command windows being open. Available as B version for the time being.
18-08-2016: Removed the ugly B version. Added a BackBurner Enabled version which needs testing.
19-08-2016: Updated the BB version to -hopefully- a working one. definitely more time needed on that release, so be warned.
19-12-2016: Removed the BB version. Please don't use it, nor ask for any support on it. Feel free to change the script to suit your needs however, should you have downloaded it already.

"V-Ray Next users"

Hi Lele,

I'm currently on V-Ray Next and the new vDenoiser does not appear to do a few things the V-Ray 3 vDenoiser does have.

Per-Element Denoising (not the "select denoise elements" in the new version UI) the old version deniosed the frames per elements and comp them back in one go. The outcome was a nice clean file with only the denoised element.

V-Ray Next vDenoiser does not seem to Denoise on multiple GPU's, in V-Ray 3 I could use all my GPU's installed to denoise, this was very handy for denoising an animation were hundreds of frames were being denoised.

I have done some comparisons and the results are better using the V-Ray 3.6 command line denoiser when using Per-Element Denoising, fine details like in fabrics are preserved were as the new Denoiser blurs then out.

These were the command line settings I used in V-Ray 3 can these be done in Vray Next?

"-mode=default -useGpu=2 -elements=1 -frameBlend=3 -display=0"

I would appreciate any guidance on using the new VDenoiser.

Thank you!

-E

[caypiranha]

Many great Thank for this! seems to work like a charm.

more quuestion to chaosgroup: isn´t it possible to do this for gpu and cpu together?

.. and while I wrtite this: low Prio for GPU migh be nice as well... here´s laggy to write... =)

[DPS]

Luckily I've cranked my settings pretty high anyway but will try that next time - will be pretty large in terms of storage.

[olly]

Don't think so.

If it is any help, I save out the separate exrs along with a single exr that contains all elements. I denoise the single exr and then use the denoised frames alongside the separate elements for the post work.

[DPS]

Is there any way to denoise a sequence from separate exr render elements? I just switched my workflow mid animation - silly me.